Caroline Kubzansky

Caroline Kubzansky covers criminal justice with a focus on violence and its root causes for the Tribune. She previously worked as a general assignment reporter and started her career covering the northern suburbs. A graduate of the University of Illinois-Springfield's Public Affairs Reporting Program and the University of Chicago, she is a committed Chicago partisan and a native of Washington, D.C.

Chef Trevor Fleming, left, works behind the counter at Warlord on June 12, 2023, in Chicago's Avondale neighborhood. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

Owner of Warlord restaurant in Avondale accused of sharing sexual images of woman

January 27, 2026 at 12:44 p.m.

Chicago police arrested Trevor Fleming, 41, early on Jan. 17 at his home, according to police records.

A surveillance image allegedly captured Jawad Fakroune, left, threatening and then beating a Chicago restaurateur on Nov. 25, 2024, over repayment of a $1.5 million loan. Fakroune was charged with extortion and flight to avoid prosecution. The image contains areas redacted in the court filing. (U.S. attorney's office)

Jury hears more from alleged victim in restaurant extortion case

January 22, 2026 at 6:02 p.m.

Key witness spends second day on the witness stand as prosecutors kept building their argument that Jawad Fakroune’s alleged attack on him and the messages that followed went way beyond a...

Restaurateur’s testimony details financial snarl, business failures in trial of alleged extortionist

January 21, 2026 at 6:33 p.m.

The government’s star witness in the case against alleged extortionist Jawad Fakroune, took the stand Wednesday to describe threads made against him over an outstanding restaurant debt.

Jawad Fakroune is charged with beating and extorting a Chicago restaurateur in 2024 over a $1.5 million loan. This surveillance image allegedly shows Fakroune entering an Italian restaurant in New York City on Dec. 18, 2024, after federal agents went to arrest him at an apartment and he fled nearly naked out the back door. The circle annotation is contained in the court filing. (U.S. attorney's office)

‘Bullying is not a federal crime’: Trial opens for alleged con man accused of extorting local restaurateur

January 20, 2026 at 6:34 p.m.

Prosecutors on Tuesday argued that Jawad Fakroune's alleged attack on Adolfo Garcia in the back room of Garcia's now-shuttered martini and oyster joint Yours Truly went way beyond the occasionally...

People march in the street on South 25th Avenue, Jan. 17, 2026, during a protest outside the Broadview Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility following the fatal ICE shooting of U.S. citizen Renee Good in Minneapolis. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

Hundreds return to Broadview to denounce federal agents’ killings in Minneapolis, Chicago area

January 20, 2026 at 8:58 a.m.

Hundreds gathered to protest Saturday in Broadview for one of the first large-scale gatherings in the western suburb since federal agents pulled back from "Operation Midway Blitz."

Caitlin Tracey, 36, of New Buffalo, Michigan, was found dead Oct. 27, 2024, in the stairwell of a South Loop high-rise building. (Family photo)

Chicago man charged with throwing estranged wife Caitlin Tracey down Loop high-rise makes first appearance

January 13, 2026 at 2:50 p.m.

Adam Beckerink, her estranged husband, made his first appearance Tuesday morning in Cook County court to face murder charges.

Dr. Michael McKee's residence at 2100 N. Lincoln Park West in Chicago, on Jan. 12, 2026. A criminal complaint lists McKee’s home address as the building at left. Mckee is charged with killing his ex-wife, Monique Tepe, and her husband, Spencer Tepe, in Ohio. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)

Lincoln Park man charged in murders of ex-wife and her dentist husband to be extradited to Ohio

January 12, 2026 at 5:27 p.m.

A Lincoln Park man accused of killing his ex-wife and her husband in their Columbus home will be sent back to Ohio to face charges in the couple's deaths, according...

Chicago police and fire personnel bring a victim down from the CTA Pink Line station at Washington/Wells, Dec. 23, 2025. According to police one person was fatally wounded and one injured during a confrontation that happened around 1:30 a.m. (Network Video Productions)

Garfield Park man charged in fatal Pink Line shooting, police say

January 12, 2026 at 2:26 p.m.

A Garfield Park man is facing murder charges for a fatal shooting that took place aboard the Pink Line late last year, police said.

Nour Tamimi, right, leads a chant during a rally on Jan. 9, 2026, at a makeshift memorial in Minneapolis honoring Renee Good, near the site where Good fatally shot by an ICE officer. (John Locher/AP)

Minnesota shooting raises questions about who investigates federal agents

January 11, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

Many in the Chicago area have revived a legal question of whether state and local agencies can investigate and file charges against federal agents who appear to have crossed the...

Boy, 1, dies after falling four stories from Edgewater apartment building: authorities

January 10, 2026 at 5:40 p.m.

An 1-year-old boy was pronounced dead after he fell from a 4th floor window in the Edgewater neighborhood.

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